He showed Americans the visceral horrors of the Third Reich — what would he think of Trump’s US?
William Shirer chronicled the collapse of one democracy. What would he see in his home country today?
Demonstrators in Chicago protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies on Sept. 6. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images
Terrence Petty September 11, 2025
When 30-year-old American journalist William L. Shirer arrived in Germany in 1934, he was puzzled by why the vast majority of everyday Germans had accommodated themselves to living in a totalitarian state.
As Shirer wrote in his eventual classic, The Rise and Fall of The Third Reich, it surprised him “to see that the people of this country did not seem to feel that they were being cowed and held down by an unscrupulous and brutal dictatorship.”
“On the contrary they supported it with genuine enthusiasm,” he wrote.
I’m re-reading my five-decade-old copy of Shirer’s book for the umpteenth time, as rhizomes of authoritarian ambition now snake across Shirer’s own homeland. And I fear Shirer might recognize the same performative submission in the United States under President Donald Trump as he saw in Germany in the early years of Adolf Hitler’s regime, as elected officials rewrite history to suit a strongman’s narrative, and treat dissent as betrayal.
He might see how propaganda — in Germany the domain of Joseph Goebbels’ Ministry of Propaganda — now flows through American social media algorithms and partisan news outlets, shaping perception with relentless repetition. And he would notice Trump’s campaign to erase all mention of diversity, equity, and inclusion from government websites and from military academy libraries, as well as his efforts to compel universities, law firms and news outlets to bend to his will.
He might remark, in doing so, that by the time of his arrival in Germany, the Nazi regime had taken control of every facet of life — including the civil service, education, news publications and the medical and legal professions. Banned books were piled high and set on fire. Modern art was banished from galleries and museums.
And one of Trump’s first acts in his second term — pardoning more than 1,500 insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, whom he proclaimed to be “great patriots” — would have reminded Shirer of Hitler championing those who were at his side during his failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch as national heroes, and awarding them “Blood Order” medals in the 1930s for their diehard loyalty.
Shirer might have connected immigrants’ fear, today, of being arrested by masked federal agents without being granted their right to due process, to tactics used by the Gestapo to intimidate and control the German populace.
Then, Jews faced daily acts of dehumanization. They were assaulted, mocked and tormented while walking down the street; barred from clubs; denied service in restaurants; thrown into poverty by Nazi-enforced boycotts; barred from government jobs, as well as from practicing law and working as journalists; and banned from attending and teaching at German schools and universities.
But when Shirer asked Germans why they didn’t do something to protect Jews, they’d ask what, exactly, they could do.
“They would often put that question to you, and it was not an easy one to answer,” Shirer wrote.
I am reminded of the haunting words of German theologian and concentration camp survivor Martin Niemöller, words that have echoed across generations:
“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Today, the list of those targeted may differ, but the pattern of exclusion is unmistakably familiar. Immigrants, foreign students, LGBTQ+ Americans, Black citizens, journalists and Democrats are among those who have borne the brunt of Trump’s drive to reshape our culture, public discourse, and understanding of our own history to reflect his authoritarian vision of America.
As Trump has recently tried to place Democratic-led cities like Washington D.C. under virtual occupation by National Guard troops, under the pretext of cracking down on crime, there is a worry that he may next manufacture an emergency in such cities as a pretext to declare martial law, and potentially cancel or delay the 2026 midterm elections. The blueprint is already visible: federal troops, emergency declarations and a narrative of national crisis. All it would take is a spark.
“They’re going to try to suppress voting this November,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom in August. “This is existential, this moment.”
“Everyone, wake up,” Newsom added. “He’s militarizing American cities. This is Putin’s playbook. This is authoritarianism.”
Shirer would, I think, be heartened by the resistance movement that has arisen against Trump’s authoritarian power grabs — by the multitudes of protesters who have taken to the streets, and by groups like Indivisible, a nationwide grassroots network that mobilizes local activism to defend democracy and resist authoritarianism. Unlike in the early years of the Third Reich, resistance here is visible, vocal and organized.
But the number of active participants remains a fraction of the overall populace. Shirer might well ask us: What are you waiting for?
Because if we wait until they come for us, it will already be too late.
